


Trouble

by Broken_fangirl_2002



Series: MCYT fic's [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dave | Technoblade and Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Philza isnt the best parents, Tommy is the trouble child, dream is big brother friend, im telling you this will hurt you, tommy makes some bad choices, tubbo is a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28125432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_fangirl_2002/pseuds/Broken_fangirl_2002
Summary: Philza wasn’t sure when Tommy had become the troubled child, but as he sat in the living room waiting for his youngest son to come home from where ever he had found himself, he wondered if he had done something wrong.OrThe one where Philza is a world-renowned inventor, techo graduated top of his class in everything and went to a prestigious college. Wilbur is a charismatic self-made musician who everyone loved. Tommy was a troubled teenager who was failing math and went to big loud parties where he got drunk, and he was friends with people who sometimes made terrible choices, and all he wants is for his dad and brothers to come to his soccer games.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Dave | Technoblade & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Series: MCYT fic's [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2061843
Comments: 50
Kudos: 937
Collections: Completed stories I've read





	1. Chapter 1

They had won the championship, and Tommy was the first-ever freshman on the upper-class man’s soccer team who had shot the winning goal. 

And his family had missed it. 

He reviled in Dream, hosting him up onto his shoulder as Sapnap and George screamed before the whole team fell into a big hug. 

So, if Tommy was the center of all his friends’ attention, he felt so empty. He tried to ignore it as Tubbo ran onto the field and pulled Tommy into a hug, 

“You did it, you crazy, crazy man,” tubbo shouted, and for a moment, the emptiness started to melt away, as tubbo, who didn’t make the team, but the team had coined him as their little mascot and good luck charm, hyped-up Tommy. 

The boys started to disperse, meeting their parents, but tubbo stayed at his side, telling Tommy all the amazing things he had done in the game. 

“Afterparty at mine, you down,” Dream asked, and Tommy nodded. Usually, Tommy would beg to go, and the boys would eventually say yes if Tommy promised not to drink (too much) or get high (or at least make it look like he wasn’t). Now Dream had just invited him no debate, no agreement. 

Tubbo nodded to Tommy’s unspoke request. Tommy could sleepover at his house, tubbo did live two houses over from dream, and Tubbos parents were chill about everything. 

* * *

Beer tasted awful, but beer pong was so fucking fun that Tommy didn’t care. Dream had immediately picked him for his partner and had challenged George and sapnap, who had accepted the challenge and had not expected Tommy to be every good. 

Which it turns out he was. 

When Tommy got another ball in the cup, the whole room let out a scream, and dream ruffed Tommy’s hair. And as Tommy drank something that Karl had given him with the words, 

‘This is the shit that tastes good for our game-winner,’ 

Purpled and tubbo were talking very animatedly on the sofa. Simultaneously, sapnap lined up his shot, Ponk and punz looked like they were making an actual potion, to witch dream told Tommy that someone would get dared to drink it and avoid it if he could because it always tasted like shit. Quackity had been watching the beer pong game but had left to smoke in the backyard with a couple of people. As Tommy sipped on his drink, the world made more sense. 

And it stopped mattering that his brothers and dad were too busy to come to his game. 

* * *

Tommy woke up with a pounding headache when he realized he was sleeping on dreams couch. Granted, many people seemed to have passed out around him, and there was a movie playing on the tv. Tommy scrambled to find his phone and found it was dead, but a stick note had been taped to it. 

‘Had to take purpled home, dream said it was okay you slept there, text me when you charge your phone : ) - tubbo’ 

“Moring,” someone grumbled, the voice took a second to process, but Tommy recognized it as sapnap. He was leaning against dream and George, who were fast asleep cuddled against each other,

“Did I wake you?” Tommy whispered, 

“Been up for hours, hows your head,” sapnap gestured with his coffee mug. Tommy was only comfortable at tubbos house to get up and get something from someone else kitchen. Still, he wasn’t surprised that sapnap was comfortable enough at dreams house to make himself a coffee.

“Ugh,” Tommy shrugged, his head was pounding, and the small light that was being let in by the blinds wasn’t a good sign as to how Tommy would feel when he stepped outside. 

“Yeah, I remembered that feeling,” Sapnap nodded, 

“Did I do anything stupid,” Tommy asked. 

“You insisted we watch Up,” Sapnap shrugged, 

“That so childish,” Tommy looked down at his feet. Of course, he had let them see he was still a kid who watched Disney movies. 

“Eh, quaickty cried at the first ten minutes then we all cuddled together for warmth, tubbo had to take purpled home, but since you were sleeping over at his house dream said you could stay since you were already asleep, and we all know tubbo couldn’t carry you,” sapnap brushed off, “I jumped off the old bridge near the school when I got super drunk for the first time,” 

“Really?” Tommy’s eyes widened, it was always a joke to dare your friend to jump off of the broke down bridge over the nasty sewer river, but he had never known for anyone to go through with it. 

“Yeah, I felt so free, I smelt like hot garbage and dream had to drag me from the water, but he got me back by pretending he had drowned when he got drunk at his cottage in freshman year so,” Sapnap joked, as George sturred from behind him, sapnap simply rubbed his back a little 

“That sounds a lot cooler then, ‘got drunk and made his older mates watch a Disney film,’” Tommy mumbled. 

“Yeah, you got me on that,” sapnap shrugged, “but a lot safer,” 

“I should go home,” Tommy yawned, 

“I can drive you,” Sapnap pushed himself up from the floor to stand, 

“Are you sure?” Tommy asked, and sapnap pulled the keys out of his pockets. 

“Yeah, you live a thirty-minute walk from here, wouldn’t wanna give your brother more reasons to hate me,” Sapnap shrugged, 

“Okay, I’m going to use the bathroom then-?” Tommy looked over at the bathroom, and sapnap nodded grabbed. 

“Yeah, I going to find my change of clothing.” sapnap nodded as Tommy walked to the bathroom. He looked at his face in the mirror and tried to wash some of the night before. 

The car right was quick, but the sun seemed to blare down on him, and the clock in Sapnap’s car read that it was 11:23 am, which was later than Tommy had intended to get home. Sapnap squirted Tommy with a bit of cologne he, for some reason, kept in his car, and as Tommy gathered his bag from the back seat, he saw Wilbur and philza rushed outside. 

Tommy stepped out of the car, and Wilbur pulled him into a hug, while philza knocked on Sapnaps window and started to yell at him. Tommy wasn’t sure of what until he heard sapnap speak up.

“Hey, hey look, I’m just driving the kid home,” sapnap raised his hands in surrender, “I didn’t know he hadnt told you where he was,” 

“Are you drunk,” Philza accused 

“No, I don’t drive drunk,” Sapnap narrowed his eyes, 

“Dad,” Tommy spoke up. If sapnap went back to dreams and told the guys that Tommy’s dad had freaked out, then Tommy might never be invited to a party again. 

“Thomas, go inside,” philza looked over, and Wilbur started to guide Tommy inside, but he stood his ground,

“Then lay off sapnap,” 

“GO INSIDE,” Philza yelled, and that made Tommy go; techo was standing at the door, he didn’t look too happy either, but Tommy brushed pasted him, walking up to his room, he quickly plugging his phone into the charger on his bedside table. 

Tommy wanted to shower, he smelt like old beer, but he settled for changing out of the clothing. Just as he was in a new shirt and jeans, the front door slammed shut. 

He knew he was in shit now. 

“Where were you?” Philza demanded, 

“Tubbos house,” Tommy said, which might have fooled philza. Still, techo and Wilbur knew sapnap, not personally, but as a kid a year younger then them, and an immensely popular guy, they did happen to know who he was, and his whereabouts he lived because he hosted parties. 

“Then why did Sapnap drive you home? He lives on the other side of town,” Wilbur piped up,

“You were across town?” Philza demanded, to which Tommy shook his head, 

“No,” 

“Then why,” Philza reached to pinch the bridge of his nose. He had always know where Wilbur and techo were at all times, and up until ten hours ago, he thought the same was with Tommy, but after actively trying to get ahold of his fifteen-year-old son since 10 o’clock the night before and not sleeping the whole time. 

“I was in Tubbos area, just at dreams house,” Tommy mumbled. To bad Wilbur caught on first, 

“You were at a party. That’s why you smell like beer,” Wilbur nearly shouted. He knew dream. He knew dreams party’s since dreams parents were gone so much he was never worried about someone fucking up his house, and from the single one Wilbur had gone to for twenty minutes, he knew there was no shortage of drinks. 

“Please can you stop yelling,” Tommy asked quietly, silently thanking that sapnap had given him a painkiller. 

“Your hungover, Thomas,” philza felt his fight tighten. Tommy had gone to a party, get drunk enough to have a hangover, and most of all, he hadnt told philza anything. He had simply never come home from school. 

“I’m fine. It’s just a headache,” Tommy looked away, and philza stormed out of the room before slamming his bedroom door shut. 

Wilbur and techo filtered out shortly after and leaving Tommy on his bed. He grabbed his body wash and took a shower, 

* * *

Techo was livid as he went through Instagram with Wilbur. They looked at photos of the night before posted to a special story Dream had made and called championship memories. 

Dream with his arm draped around Tommy as George lined up a shot in beer pong, 

Quaikty holding a blunt in the back yard with a couple of other seniors, 

One of Tubbo Tommy and Purpled in the kitchen holding red solo cups deep in conversation, the next was Tommy flipping off the photo taker with the caption ‘gremlin child [@tommyinnit]’, 

A video of Tommy lining up and landing a shot in a beer pong game, him jumping up and shouting as George took the drink, captioned ‘our boy [@tommyinnit] isn’t just a soccer star he can play a mean game of beer pong.’ 

A selfie of sapnap holding a bottle of water with the caption, ‘when you agree to be the sober one this time, no, I’m not jealous this water is fucking great.’ 

Tommy cuddled into Dream and George as they lay on the floor. Tommy looked so sleepy, 

A mirror photo of dream, sapnap, George and bbh, three out of the four looking slighting hungover captioned ‘the team that plays hard party hard.[@badboyhalo @georgenotfound @sapnap]’ a photo that was only taken three minutes ago, 

Tubbo and purpled in tubbos bed holding up peace signs, with the caption ‘let’s all pray for my boy @tommyinnit.’ 

They wanted to keep looking, but they heard the shower turn off, and Tommy walk back into his bedroom. They tried to confront him at that exact moment, but when they got to the door they heard tubbo, 

“I’m sorry, Tommy, but dream said it was fine and purpled was tired, and the drinks hit him hard,” tubbo explained.

“It alright, is purpled still at your house?” Tommy asked, 

“Yeah, hes really hungover we called his mum this morning and asked if he could stay to study for a test on Monday. I wish I could help,” tubbo sounded so sorry for Tommy, which brought up a whole host of new questions. 

“Eh, it’s a disaster of my own making. I thought I had told dad I was staying at your house. I guess I was just so upset about them not being at the game,” Tommy confessed, but Wilbur shot techo a confused look. What game? 

“You gonna bring that up?” tubbo asked. 

“Not now, I’m already in shit. Bring up that I’m upset that they didn’t come to my soccer game when they are so busy. I’ll just make a bigger mess,” Tommy dismissed, 

“Okay, well, I guess ill see you at school. Purpled is throwing up, so I’m making something to eat while he throws up his stomach,” Tubbo explained, 

“I’m glad I’m not throwing up, at least.” Tommy sort of joked 

“This time,” tubbo tossed back, getting a small laugh out of tubbo 

“Fuck you, okay, I should get changed then get my story straight. What’s been posted?” Tommy asked, 

“Well, if they don’t have dream on Instagram, you might be fine. If they do, well, your already fucked, might as well come clean,” tubbo explained, 

“My phone did die. That’s not a lie. I can’t remember when though,” Tommy pointed out, 

“After we left the soccer field, you said you had to send one last text, then your phone died,” tubbo offered, 

“Right right, I had messaged my dad that I would be staying at your house, or I thought I had,” Tommy recalled 

“Maybe it didn’t go through, and your phone died?” tubbo suggested 

“That makes sense. I should let you go. If Dad doesnt take away my phone, I’ll text you later,” Tommy sighed. 

“Okay, bu-bye,” tubbo spoke, then with a soft goodbye from Tommy, he hung up his phone, and that was the moment for Wilbur and techo to strike, pushing the door open, 

“Hi,” Tommy looked up. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his phone on the nightstand still plugged in. 

“You fucked up,” techo spoke first, 

“I know.” Tommy nodded, “I didn’t mean to worry you,” Tommy offered, 

“Why were you at a senior party?” Wilbur asked 

“Because I’m on the senior soccer team, and we just won the championship game” Tommy shrugged. 

Philza never came out of his room that day, and he ignored Tommy for the next day.

At school, everyone in his class thought he was the shit. They had all see him in the game, then at a Senior party, he was the coolest freshman with tubbo and purpled. 

So he ignored how shit everything was at home. He stayed later at school. They still had soccer practice. If dream or George suggested the team get dinner after, who was he to say no. philza had stopped talking to Tommy, every conversation Wilbur had with Tommy was a fight, and techo just glared at him. 

So, of course, he didn’t want to be at home. Dream took Wilbur’s place pretty quickly, messing up Tommy’s hair and protecting him, even though Dream was a little bit more impulsive than Wilbur could ever be. 

So what if Tommy snuck out of his second-story window to meet Dream in his beat-up car so they could go to a place the upperclassmen had nicknamed ‘the top of the world’? It did have the best view of the sunrise. 

He was okay with it all. 

Until he wasn't


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit guys, you seemed to really like it, I was just writing this for shits at two am but I woke up to see a bunch of comments and kudos so thank you, guys. here have chapter two, I am working on chapter three (which will be the end of the story,) 
> 
> anyways, um, yeah enjoy chapter two :)

Tommy pulled on his coat over his hoodie, well not his hoodie, it was Wilbur. He wasn’t sure if he had stolen it out of spite or anger or only because it comforted him and lured him to sleep when nothing else would. 

But none the less he pulled the new jean jacket over the top, a pin of a dinosaur had been pinned to the breast pocket by Skeppy when Dream had tossed Tommy the coat as an early birthday gift. He looked at the small collection of things he had been given for his early birthday, mostly pins, both hard emmanle pins and button pins. His favourite one had to be a bee that tubbo had pulled off his jacket that he had been given only slightly before on his birthday. 

Of course, it hadnt been dream who got it for him. It was his upperclassman brother, Eret. 

Anyways, tubbo had gone to pick up Tommy, meeting him just outside his house, and as Tommy pulled his coat slightly tighter to his body, tubbo reached over to the cuff of his jacket where two little bees sat.

“Here,” tubbo gently pulled the backing out and clipped it back together before handing Tommy the pin, 

“But this is your bee, you love bees,” Tommy shook his head, 

“I do, but I want you to have one of them.” tubbo grinned, 

Tubbos jacket was fully decorated now. Eret had instructed him to do so after all. The back panel was painted with a pinky purple sunset over a grassy flower field where little bees swarmed around and a shadow of two boys sitting in the field. 

He had pins from everyone, 

Tubbo has gifted a jean jacket because everyone else had letterman jackets they got from being on the team. Why the soccer team had gotten letterman jackets was beyond their knowledge but, Eret had gone out and gotten him a nice jean jacket and sewn on the school crest to the right arm, in the same spot the letterman jackets had them. 

And while Tommy did have a letter man’s jacket dream who had tossed it to him when he got into the car later in the evening, told him that he had been talking to eret and they thought it was important for Tommy and tubbo to stay close. 

Tommy’s jacket was a darker wash then tubbos, and dream had already gotten something painted onto it, ‘Chaos child’ was painted in cursive above the breast pocket. 

Tommy thought he would get tubbo to paint him a back panel, but something in his head was compelling him to ask Wilbur he was a bit of an artist after all, or techo who had a steady hand and good attention to detail. 

Shaking the thought from his head, Tommy grabbed the little bee pin from the small pile on his desk and pinned it to the lapel of the jean jacket before slipping a black beanie over his blond hair and climbing out the window. 

Everyone was busy tonight. There was a massive test in the upperclassmen English class, so they were all locked away in their rooms studying. Say what you want about them. They were all excellent students. 

Tommy wasn’t, but everyone else was. 

Tubbo had said he would come to hang out with Tommy on his birthday, but the rest had asked if he was going to be doing anything with his family, and Tommy lied, said he was, so when they walked home from school, tubbo and purpled had wished Tommy the best of birthdays then left. 

Even if he didn’t want them to. 

He had gone in and seen nobody, he found a note on the table for Wilbur that philza would be out late, but due to its untouched nature, Wilbur hadnt gotten home yet either. So Tommy made himself a grilled cheese, ate it on the counter before he washed up and pulled the cupcake that tubbo had made from his bag. 

Tubbo had made a whole batch of cupcakes, but they had eaten them at lunch, and tubbo gave Tommy the last one. 

Tubbo didn’t know everything, but he knew that Tommy was fighting with his family at the moment. Tubbo didn’t say it was, and Tommy would never admit that, but tubbo had probably made an extra for Tommy to take home and blow out a candle at 7:14, the minute he was born. It used to be a tradition in Tommy’s family, but with everything. 

Tommy waited. Even if he was fighting with Wilbur and techo was only glaring at him, he could concne them to sing him a happy birthday while he blew out his candle,

But when seven hits, 

It was clear they weren’t coming home. 

Which lead Tommy to that moment, pulling on Wilbur’s sweater and his new jean jacket, taking a lighter, candle and tubbos cupcake, and climbing out his window. 

Not that there was anyone home to stop him from walking out the front door. 

And Tommy walked to the small clearing in the woods behind his house, 

7:10, 

He could text tubbo, call him, and tubbo would face time him and be there for him or purpled, or dream or anyone, any one of his friends would pick up his call. 

But he didn’t want them, not right now anyway. Sure he had tried to convince himself that he didn’t need Wilbur, or philza or techo. Still, as the seconds ticked by to Tommy turning fourteen, he wanted nothing more than for them to be there, watching the time with him, philza kissing his forehead, Wilbur messing up his hair, techo squeezing his hand. 

But they weren’t. Tommy was alone, 

7:13, 

Tommy slowly lit the candle, shutting his eyes he blew out the candle, and his alarm went off, 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 

The stupid alarm was taunting him, so he threw his phone at a tree, placed the cupcake back in the Tupperware container, and then curled up on the ground of the clearing. 

* * *

Today was something Phil knew it, he knew it was something, and it had been bothering him since he got to work. 

But Wilbur hadnt seemed to remember, and techo just struggled. 

April, what was important in April, 

Wait was it

“Phil, I need your approval on this design change,” one of his employee’s, martin, an older man who he had been working with since he got into the inverter world, stepped into his office, 

“Right, what is it,” 

“The original part you wanted won’t be able to be used, so one of the kids-” he called some of the newly employed designers kids for some reason “suggested that we try this new fancy product,” 

“I don’t know, ill have to see this over,” Phil shook his head “hey, martin, is today anything?” 

“Not that I know of. We have a big meeting tomorrow,” martin suggested as he started to leave the office, 

“Maybe that is,” Phil shook his head. He still couldn’t shake this odd feeling that he had forgotten something hugely important. 

* * *

Techo hated study groups, which is why he wasn’t in one, but he was working on a project, and their younger sibling had his friends over to study. 

“I don’t know how they achieve such high grade when this his how they study,” his partner Shlatt rolled his eyes, 

“That’s because no one likes you, and you’re a buzzkill,” his younger brother Karl flipped him off as he bounced down the stairs, 

“Mom said I could have the living room and you can have the family room, so you-” Shlatt started to argue, and Karl rolled his eyes before he defended himself,

“Calm down. I’m just getting water, hI techno, did you guys already finish celebrating?” he asked from the kitchen, pulling out a glass and turning on the tap,

“Celebrating?” Techo narrowed his eyes 

“Tommys birthday? He told us yesterday that he was celebrating with his family,” Karl clarified.

“Uh, well,” techo stopped; Tommy’s birthday the little gremlins birthday wasn’t until April 9th, so he turned over his phone to check the date, there on his phone read 7:23 April 9th, 

Fuck

“You forgot Tommys birthday?” Karl poked his head out of the kitchen to see techo scramble for his phone; Wilbur must be home. Sure he was still upset at the little gremlin for freaking the whole house out about a month back, but it was his birthday. He couldn’t be alone. 

“Give me a second” techo pushed himself up from the table, “pick up your fucking phone Wilbur” techo grumbled as he walked into the back porch, 

“What?” Wilbur answered,

“You have no phone manors,” techo sighed as Wilbur let out a huff. 

“Don’t scold me,” Wilbur huffed out, 

“Whatever, its Tommys birthday,” Techo rushed out, 

“No, it’s not. His birthday is on the ninth,” Wilbur protested when techo interrupted him. 

“Check the fucking date then,” Techo defended after a short moment 

“Fuck,” Wilbur let out, 

“You at home, right?” Techo asked, pacing the length of the back porch, 

“...No,” 

“Hes alone on his birthday,” techo realized, and he rushed inside. He could get his shit together and then get back to the house in ten, fifteen minutes, 

“Hey, he could have gone out with friends,” Wilbur tried to save this but, this wouldn’t save it.

“Not when half of his friends are studying at shlatt and Karls house under the belief that Tommy is doing something for his birthday with us, his family,” techo sighed, and rushed out the front door, getting a look from sapnap who was standing in the hall way. 

* * *

Tommy sat back up after a moment, going to retrieve his phone. 

7:16, 

He could call Wilbur or techo or Phil, tell them that it’s his birthday, that he wants them to come home, 

But when he opens his contacts, he sees ‘big brother dream’ there first, and whipping back some tears, and he clicks it.

“Hey, tom, how’s it going?” dream answered his phone through the rustling of papers. Tommy could tell he was deep into studying. Dream liked to study alone, while some of the guys were at Karls house studying together, he knew dream was locked up in his small bedroom playing ‘stuDYING,’ which was a playlist he used to study and once when Tommy had gotten into his computer he changed the title. 

Dream had kept it. Tommy always knew precisely what dream was doing when he opened his Spotify to see him playing stuDYING. 

“fINe,” Tommy’s voice cracked, then a small sob escaped his lips, 

“Are you crying,” dream asked, and Tommy heard some more rustling, the pure counsering and worry in his voice made Tommy break down. 

“They forgot,” Tommy cried into the speaker, 

“Tommy hey hey listen, I need you to take a big deep breath for me,” Dream asked, and Tommy complied, sucking in a deep breath of air, then realizing, dream must have been able to hear it because he then said, “good good, who forgot,” 

“They forgot my birthday, I’m alone, in the middle of these stupid woods that they used to play with me in, and its three minutes past my birth time and they forgot my birthday, and I lied to you and tubbo because I though, I don’t know, I don’t know, th-” the small relief he had gained from a deep breath had once again been lost to shallow breaths and sobs of tears, 

“Another deep breath for me okay, breath in, now breath out, good okay, where did you say you were,” dream asked, and Tommy swore he heard a car door slam close, but he didn’t trust his ears for anything but dreams voice at this moment. 

“There’s a clearing in the woods behind my house,” Tommy told him, 

“Okay, what do you see,” Dream asked, 

“There’s a bluebird. Bluebirds are Wilburs favourite, you know. He would always stop the game mid go to point one out. Techo loved crows, but we didn’t see as many of those,” Tommy explained. He wasn’t sure exactly why it didn’t matter what Wilbur liked when he was a kid. Not to dream at least, 

“What else,” Dream asked, and Tommy spotted his initials at the base of one of the trees, 

“The tree where I carved my initials when I ran way for the first time,” Tommy reached out for them, this fingers tracing over the T but not daring to touch the M, 

“The first time?” Dream asked 

“Yeah, I never got very far dad always found me at the clearing” Tommy let out a sad laugh, filed with wet tears. 

“Yeah, I bet,” Dream spoke up, 

“Wilbur used to say that I did it on purpose, that I didn’t run away fair enough because I want to be found,” Tommy felt the tears coming in a storm once more. If he had run away farther, he could have solved all his family problems. 

“Did you?” Dream asked, and that made Tommy stop, had he only run away to where he knew Phil would find him to where he could be scooped up in a hug and carried back to the house. 

Until he got too big to be carried and phil got too busy, techo and Wilbur were old enough to watch him, so phil took longer hours at work. 

“I don’t know, maybe, dad always liked Wilbur and techo better than me, and now he doesnt love me,” Tommy sobbed, 

“I’m sure that no true,” dream spoke. 

“He doesnt speak to me any more, and techo only every glares at Wilbur and me, and I fight over everything, and I just want things to go back to the way it was before the championships,” Tommy spat out, then a voice came from behind him, 

Dream, it wasn’t nearly warm enough for him to be wearing basketball shorts and a thin sweater, but there he was, 

“What happened then?” dream still asked into the phone.

“I forgot to tell my dad I wasn’t coming home,” Tommy shook his head, then ran into Dreams arms, crying into his chest. 

It was dream, his upperclassman school brother, the guy who taught him how to bounce a soccer ball on his knee and knew precisely when Tommy was just near having to drink much and took away the cup, replacing it with water. 

But it wasn’t Wilbur who had taught him how to play the piano when he was two, who read him bedtime stories and made Tommy lisnet to the songs he had written, 

Or Techo, who had introduced soccer to Tommy, taught him the rules and how to play, who had chased him in these very woods until Tommy screamed with laughter. 

It wasn’t Phil who had raised Tommy, taught him his values and tried to give him good morals. 

“I want them to love me again,” Tommy sobbed into dreams chest. Dream pulled the beanie from Tommy’s hair and gently ran his hands through Tommy’s hair. It was the way dream knew to comfort people. 

His sisters both loved to be comforted by dream carefully running his fingers through his hair, and that’s what he knew best. 

Tommy was grateful that dream had come, but Dream wasn’t who he wanted, whether he wanted to admit it or not, 

he had wished for a comforting hug from Phil where he could rest his head on Phil’s shoulder, where Phil’s cologne brought him back to his childhood.

He wanted Wilbur’s long arms while he towered over him. He wanted Wilbur to rest his head on His own, to kiss the crown of his head. 

He wanted techo to wrap his arms around Tommy’s shoulders, Tommy’s back flush against techo’s chest, holding Tommy’s hand and giving it a light squeeze.

He wanted to be loved by his family again. 

* * *

Philza awoke to his phone ringing somehow. He had fallen asleep on his desk. The caller id was off, but he answered it anyway. 

“Hello?” 

“Its Tommy’s birthday,” the panicked voice of Wilbur rang through the line, 

“No, his birthday is-” philza looked over at his calendar. On April 9th, ‘Tommy’s fourteenth birthday’ was written in a sparkly blue pen, under three deadlines. “You are at home?” 

“No, I was out with Niki. I’m headed home now, and so is techo, but dad, we missed his birth time.” 

Philza checked the time 7:25, his baby, his little boy, had been alone at his birth time, and not even that, he hadnt spoken to Tommy that morning. 

He hadnt properly spoke to Tommy in almost a month. 

“I am on my way home,” philza told Wilbur, then hung up, grabbing his coat, and walked out of the office. 

* * *

Techo was on the couch when Wilbur got in. 

“Hes not here,” techo shook his head, 

“He could be at tub-” Wilbur tried. Maybe Tommy hadnt been alone. He could have gone to tubbos or, techo squished that hope real quick, 

“I called tubbo, he said Tommy had gone home after they walked home, any other one of his friends I could get in contact with had told me the same, and there were at least five of his friends at Shlatts house,” techo explained, 

“So where-” Wilbur tried. He had called there dad on the way home when the back door creaked open, 

“Come on,” Dreams voice echoed through the house, which made both techo and Wilbur race into the kitchen. Dream was holding Tommy’s hand, his face tear-stained, and he had dirt covering his pants. 

Without saying a word, Wilbur rushed over to scooped Tommy up in a hug, which just seemed to make him break down in a sob. 

Wilbur was holding Tommy like he did when he was little, Tommy’s arms wrapped around his neck and his legs wrapped around Wilbur’s waist, Wilbur holding him up in the middle. Techo started to fuss over the dirt on Tommy’s pants when he saw dream put Tommy’s phone down on the counter. 

The screen was mostly shattered. 

He would deal with it later. He had to follow as Wilbur brought Tommy into the living room and placed him on the couch, techo jumped over the back, and while Wilbur was holding Tommy’s head and shoulders as he cried into Wilbur’s shoulder, techo wrapped his arms around Tommy’s middle and leaned into his back. 

At some point, dream left, or that though he did,

They stayed like that. They were waiting for Phil now,

* * *

When Phil got back to his house, a young man with messy blond hair, a thin lime green sweater, and basketball shorts were leaning against a beaten-up car. 

“Your Tommy’s dad right,” the young man asked. 

“Yes, I need to-,” Phil tried to excuse himself when the young man blurted out. 

“He thinks you hate him,” 

“Wh-” Phil turned 

“I know it’s none of my business, and I would probably beat the crap out of anyone who tried to mess with my home life, but I care about Tommy,” he raised his hands in surrender. 

“Who are y-” 

“Dream,” Dream, Phil though dream was the name of the senior whos party Tommy had been at, it wasn’t dream who had driven him home and when he got one of his interns to pull photos, this young man was the one who was playing beer pong with Tommy, downing beers and laughing at his friends while he had his arm draped around Tommy. 

Tommy, who was much too young to be there

“Dream I think I know my son,” Phil narrowed his eyes. 

“I’m sure you think you do,” dream nodded as he walked over to his car door. 

“Excuse me,” Phil tried to ask, but dream got into his car and started to back out of the driveway, whatever that could wait until Phil saw Tommy. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so here is the long (well not that long but It felt long to me) a waited (was anyone waiting for this?) final chapter, I had fun writing this or as much fun as you can when you re-write it three times. anyways it is here and I will post it before I delete it and start again

Tommy didn’t remember falling asleep. He remembered dream bringing him back to his house, he remembered Wilbur scooping him up, he remembered techo holding him, he even remembered Phil’s calming scent come to hold his boys. But he doesnt remember falling asleep. 

However, when he did, his eyes stung; they always did after crying for too long. His throat was extremely dry as he blinked his eyes open. He was in Phil’s bed, and he had been laying against Phil’s chest while Wilbur and techo slept on either side of him. 

Phil was awake, and he was absentmindedly rubbing circles in Tommy’s back, and despite him, Tommy let out a small cry. 

“toms, are you awake?” Phil asked. Tommy simply nodded, buring his head in Phil’s chest. He wanted this before Phil decided he would go back to hating him when the dust settled, and they no longer felt bad for him. 

This made Tommy want to cry again. 

He started to think of what dream had said, 

_ “They do love you, Tommy. I know they do,” dream told him.  _

_ “They don’t, how would you know,” Tommy mumbled, Dream for some reason, always smelt like sandalwood. The smell had slowly become a comfort for Tommy.  _

_ “Because I knew Wilbur, and he never shut up about his crazy little brother, who he loved more than life itself. And techo who walked you to school every day in primary, who beat up anyone who looked at you funny,” Dream told him, running his fingers through Tommy’s messy blonde locks, holding him close as Tommy kept his face buried in dreams chest.  _

_ Tommy often forgot that dream had been in some of the same classes at Wilbur and techo had been. Before dream was Tommy’s friend, he was the ‘smart fucking soccer asshole who needs to stay in his lane’ to techno and ‘my project parter’ to Wilbur.  _

_ “It’s not like that anymore. They hate me. I’m too much trouble.” Tommy shook his head. Dream knew Tommy’s brothers in a world where Tommy was still just a good kid.  _

_ “How?” Dream asked,  _

_ “I make them worry. I sneak out of the house, I do poorly in classes even though I work hard, and there’s nothing special about me.” Tommy explained, which, to his surprise, got a small laugh out of dream.  _

_ “I used to sneak out, I failed my first secondary math class, no matter how much I worked at it, and everyone knew me as nothing more than ‘soccer kid’” dream countered, then he said, “my parents my siblings still love me,”  _

_ “I’m too much trouble for my dad. Techo and Wilbur never got drunk or high, or snuck out every night or forgot to tell him that they would be gone all night. They never made him sit up and worry about them.” Tommy pulled back to look at dreams green eyes,  _

_ “The funny thing about parents, most of them love you no matter what. If your dad didn’t love you, why would he worry about you? Why would Wilbur fight with you if, deep down, he didn’t care?” dream asked, and Tommy hated to admit it but, Dream had a point. After a lull of silence, dream rose to his feet and held out his hand, “Alright, come.”  _

_ “Where?” Tommy tilted his head,  _

_ “Back to your house, and then you can call you dad,” Dream shrugged as Tommy placed his hand in dreams, for dream to pull Tommy to his feet.  _

_ “I don’t want to call him. I don’t want to bother him,” Tommy shook his head, but when dream put his arm around Tommy, Tommy didn’t protest leaving.  _

_ “Then ill call him. Where is your phone?” Dream asked, so Tommy reached for his back pocket for dream to take it. When he turned the screen to Tommy, it had been shattered, and even though Tommy had used it to call dream, he hadnt realized it was shattered like that “what happened”  _

_ “I threw it at a tree. The screen shattered.” Tommy shrugged. Out of everything, the screen was the last thing he was worried about.  _

_ “Ill text sap to ask if he can book you an appointment to get it replaced,” dream nodded. He shoved Tommy’s phone in his pocket then grabbed his own, shooting a quick text that Tommy saw read.  _

_ ‘I need a favour. I’ll do that thing for you <3.’  _

_ “Why don’t you hate me?” Tommy asked. Dream hated to get favours. He much preferred to make fair deals, “I must be too much trouble. I can’t even stop myself from drinking too much” Tommy looked at his hands, and dream pulled Tommy closer to his side.  _

_ “We all have to learn our limits. I didn’t always know. Stop blaming yourself for not being perfect. No one is perfect,” dream told him.  _

“I’m sorry,” Tommy cried into Phil’s chest. Phil simply held him closer.

* * *

Phil remembered when he first brought Tommy home. He was so small and so quiet compared to Wilbur and techo. Where Wilbur had cried and techno screamed, Tommy had little coos and his big blue eyes that looked at everything at all time. 

Tommy was so little on his first day of school, his bag was bigger than he was, and somehow Tommy befriended the only kid who was smaller and quieter than he was. 

Slowly Tommy got louder. He had to keep up with Wilbur, who liked to play his music loud and would talk over Tommy at dinner. So Tommy got louder, and he got a massive growth spurt at ten, now he was taller than philza.

Tommy was his own person, he made his own choices, and he would fuck up, probably a million times before he figured it all out. And Phil was so scared for him.

Wilbur and techno didn’t go to that many parties, Wilbur seemed to go to three or four a year, and techno didn’t like the company that comes with a get to together. But Tommy needed people. He sought outside attention. Some of Phil’s parent friends said that it was a sign of Tommy not feeling he gets enough attention at home. 

From second grade on, Tommy had grown big groups of friends. Sometimes the only thing that would stay consultant is little tubbo. 

Now Tommy had older friends, who techno and Wilbur knew and from that philza had gathered didn’t like all that much. But one who seems to care quite a bit about him, Tommy hadnt woken up since Phil got home and saw techno and Wilbur holding him. 

They had moved into Phil’s giant bed, while Wilbur eventually fell asleep and techno not long after him, philza stayed awake, he held onto Tommy as if he would go missing. 

Phil wasn’t stupid, although he had to admit his actions towards Tommy had been pretty dumb, he wasn’t foolish enough to not know that Tommy had been sneaking out almost every night, that he came back. Some mornings he still hadnt washed off the scent of achiole or weed, and how he would sit at the table with his head in his hands or picking at his food. 

And yet Phil hadnt done anything. He had overheard Wilbur screaming at him, and he had done nothing. He had heard techno go into Tommy’s room and push the window open just a bit more, and he wondered how techno had known Tommy was gone. 

But he had done nothing. He had gotten so worried and so upset then he had shut down. The thought, ‘what if hes dead’ had run through his mind so fast and then his logical brain had told him to shut down. 

Instead of being a reasonable adult, Phil had ignored his youngest child so long he forgot his birthday. 

He couldn’t sleep. He just wanted to hold Tommy close. He looked so tired, even though he was fast asleep. 

When the sun started to rise, Tommy started to stir, and Phil carefully began to rub circles into Tommy’s back when Tommy let out a small sob. 

“Toms, are you awake?” Phil asked, and Tommy nodded, keeping his head down, 

“I’m sorry,” Tommy spoke. His voice was so quiet and filled with tears. 

Phil didn’t know what to say, ‘it’s okay?’ no, that wasn’t going to solve that he had been absent, ‘im sorry as well?’ that wouldn’t comfort him, but what would comfort Tommy? Did Phil even know his son?

* * *

Dream should have driven home after he left Tommy’s, but he felt so shitty. He tried to solve all his friend’s problems, but he couldn’t fix this. He couldn’t fix whatever was going on in Tommy’s home. 

There was no way he would be able to focus now. 

Dream found himself in front of sapnaps house. He was studying with George, and bbh, dream had elected to stay home. And try to gain any knowledge from the stupid study guide that the teacher had said was going to be important to the test. 

Dream slammed the door to his car and rushed to the door, forgetting to knock and walking right into sapnaps room where he collapsed onto Sapnaps bed. Fighting the urge to scream into the pillow

“Good evening? Is the study guide that frustrating?” sapnap looked over from his desk. George and bbh were seated on the floor around his bed, with all their papers spread out. 

This was not the first time for any trio that dream had stormed into their bedrooms and collapsed on their beds. Dream was a bit of a drama queen. 

“No, I was just at Tommy’s house,” dream started, 

“Didn’t Tommy-” George looked up from his notes, and dream shook his head.

“He lied. He told us that his family was celebrating with him when he and his family have been fighting since championships,” dream fished around in sapnaps bedside drawer to pull out a sucker that he popped in his mouth. 

sapnap kept lollipops in his bedside drawer at all times, and dream always seemed to steal one. 

The three looked at each other. They all knew why dream was upset. He wanted to fix it, and family matters weren’t something he could reasonably fix. 

* * *

“I love you, Tommy,” Phil said, leaning down to kiss the crown of Tommy’s head, “I love you,” he repeated. It seemed to be the only words that fit. Phil had fucked up. Whether or not Tommy had messed up first didn’t matter at this moment. What mattered what that Tommy knew he was loved. 

After Phil spoke, Tommy seemed to fall back asleep so, he tried, Phil tried to fall asleep, and after a while, he finally did. 

* * *

Tommy didn’t fall asleep he simply had gone still. 

Phil had told Tommy that he loved him, his father, who he had believed only yesterday that he was regretting having and taking care of him, had tried to clear those thoughts, tried to whip away the thoughts of insecurity. 

He clung on to Phil a little bit closer. He hoped, prayed that this wasn’t a dream, that he was fully awake and what Phil had said was true. Tommy didn’t want to cry again or to keep crying. 

_ ‘Do you even deserve to have their love?’  _ Tommy’s thoughts rang out in his head,  _ ‘you fucked up, you were the one who-’  _ his thought was cut off by Wilbur waking up, he pushed himself up to sit, and he was watching Tommy and Phil. 

“I know your not asleep, tom,” Wilbur commented off-hand, “so, um, I’m gonna talk, and I don’t know, maybe ill say something that will make you want to yell or look up at me or something, but if I don’t, I guess you could just stay quiet, and pretend this never happened.” 

Wilbur took a deep breath, and then he started. 

“You were so small when you were little, like weirdly small for how big you are now, and I and techno weren’t used to have a baby in the house. We acted out, and it upset Phil, but he didn’t do anything about it but told us to stop and take care of you. Then you got sick, the doctors never found out why, but you did you got really sick, and I couldn’t help but think it was all my fault, so when you started to get better, me and techno made a promise, we would never let you get hurt again. Of course, we couldn’t prevent that the moment you learned how to run, you took off sprinting and hit a wall. You fell out of trees we told you not to climb, you were careless and reckless, and you found your way into scraped knees and bruises everywhere so that we couldn’t protect you that way. You wouldn’t have let us. But we revised it to, protecting you from someone else hurting you, techno could do it with his strength, and I could do it with words. Then you reached high school, and me and tech were in college, and you somehow befriended guys closer to our age, and you started to stay out late. You would come home smelling like acholcie or weed, and I saw photos of you on Dream or Sapnaps Instagram with beer, and I thought I knew that they didn’t care about you like I did,” Wilbur paused. 

Wilbur looked down at his hands, they shook slightly, and he took a deep breath before he continued to talk. 

“I thought because they let you drink and because they let you inhale their second-hand smoke that they didn’t care about you, they just saw you as some kid who hung around them. Which I know I’m wrong about now, but, that night you were gone, all night, I thought, I don’t know I thought maybe that this was the time they had fucked up, and you had gotten hurt, and I couldn’t protect you,” 

Wilbur was crying now. He was trying his best to cover it. He was trying to be stronger than this, then Tommy moved, he pushed himself up to meet Wilbur’s eyes, and Wilbur just let himself cry. 

“And none of this is an excuse, and I hate that I can’t just say, ‘hey Tommy, I really fucked up’ because my fucking pride keeps getting in the way but Tommy, I fucked up, I kept yelling at you like it would do anything, because I couldn’t take the anger out on my self.” Wilbur rushed out, letting the words he had wanted to say for a month rush out of his mouth, and Tommy reached over, grabbing Wilbur’s hand. 

Wilbur dove forward to hug Tommy. To hold his little brother. 

* * *

Techno stayed still as Wilbur spoke as his words rushed out of his mouth faster than techno even knew Wilbur could speak, and as Tommy maybe forgave him. 

Phil was the only one asleep now. Techno knew that their father had stayed up all night because he had to, and Wilbur had been the first one to fall asleep. Even Tommy had stayed up longer than Wilbur. 

But techno knew his twin well. Emotions were compelling in Wilbur, and when he got too overwhelmed with emotion, he got tired. 

After Wilbur confessed everything to Tommy and sat hugging each other until Wilbur let sleep overtake him again, techno sat up. 

“Walk?” techno asked, looking at Tommy. He gently nodded. 

They climbed out of bed and down the stairs, pulling on their shoes, and techno grabbed a sweater off of the back of the sofa as they walked out the back door. 

“I’m not as good with words was Wilbur,” techno spoke after they reached the woods, the sun was starting to rise, and it had painted the sky a light orange colour. 

“You heard?” Tommy looked over. He was scuffing his feet against the dirt as they walked. 

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep,” techno explained, in as few words as he could, much like always. 

“Oh,” Tommy let out more like a breath than a word. 

“Are you happy? Not now, obviously, but with your friends,” techno asked. This question had been nagging at the back of his head for a while now, maybe since the start of the school year. 

“Normally yes, they are on the same team as I am,” Tommy nodded, 

“Soccer?” techno asked. 

“Yeah, I made the Upperclass team,” Tommy spoke in a small voice, and he was looking down as he walked, mostly watching techno’s feet to see where they should go. 

“That’s impressive,” techno let out. He had played soccer in school for three years only though in his last year he gave it up for schoolwork, he had played on the same team as the dream for a good two years, “I thought only upperclassmen every made that team” techno spoke again, 

“Normally yes, but the team said that they had lacked since, well since, you stopped playing soccer,” Tommy shrugged, the team he played in had a slot, a missing player, and he had fit in, “I play-” 

“Defensive Midfielder,” techno interrupted him. It was the same position he had played, 

“Yeah, how did you know?” Tommy’s head darted up, and techno stopped to look at him. 

“Dream texted me, yesterday evening actually. I suppose he cares quite a bit about you. He was essentially yelling at me for not supporting you,” techno felt his phone heavy in his pocket, heavy with the long paragraph from dream from the number that had rested in his phone for nearly two years without a message.

“I’m sorry,” Tommy mumbled. 

“Don’t be, hes not wrong as much as it pains me to admit,” Techno shook his head, then they started to walk again, 

“Yeah, I remember you never liked dream much,” Tommy said 

“I liked dream fine,” techno shook his head, 

“He says differently,” Tommy countered, 

“I was hard on him. He played attacking midfielder, I suppose he still does, but he is fast and reckless, much like you,” techno defended as they reached the clearing, 

“So you were hard on him because he could be reckless,” Tommy asked, which stopped techno. Techno had always called Tommy reckless, 

Phrases such as ‘you reckless brat’ had come out of techno’s month as Tommy let Wilbur clean up his cuts. 

“I was hard on him because he acted first thought second, and that train of thought, honestly Tommy it scares me, but more than that is he would get rewarded for acting fast while I would sometimes slow to think.” techno cleared up, 

“There’s nothing wrong with both of those things.” Tommy finally found techno’s eyes. His blue eyes were rimmed with red from crying, but what was worse was his blue eyes held what felt like all the sadness of the world.

“More so, I saw how dream naturally got on with everyone, how Dream had the whole team as his friend, how he had most of the school as his friend, and how when you came to some of my underclassman game, you would gush over dream,” techno carried on trying not to let Tommy’s sad eyes get to him. 

“Were you jealous,” Tommy commented. 

“Maybe, but the more you grew up, I saw the similarly, not just between you and dreams playing styles, between your thinking styles, and I thought,” techno stopped. He was jealous. He was jealous of Dream for being better, with his little brother and his little brother being more like dream than anyone else in their family. “I don’t know, I worried, I worried that you might end up like him, and I never thought it would be a good thing,” techno confessed. 

“Hes a good person,” Tommy defended, mark another one to dream, Loyalty. 

“He is, hes selfless and kind and he deadly loyal to his friends, but he was always a loose cannon,” techno never thought he would have to complement dream to his brother. Still, here they stood, “anyways, when you didn’t come home that night, well I guess, I guess I thought that the recklessness had fucked you over this time,” techno shook his head. 

“I’m not that reckless,” Tommy mumbled as techno found where he carved his initials into a tree. He saw Tommy’s first, the T and M marked at the base of one of the trees. Tommy had elected not to put the I for his middle name. Techno had put all three of his initials, though, leaving a TBM, on the tree next to Tommys slightly higher up. 

“Hmm?” techno turned to Tommy, 

“Look, I know that my defining trait in this family is reckless but,” Tommy stopped, as if he was unsure if he wanted to finish his sentence, “I’m not, sure I’m forgetful, and I fuck up more than the three of you combined but, I’m not that reckless.” Tommy finished, 

“You don’t-” techno wanted to tell Tommy he didn’t fuck up that much, but Tommy cut him off, 

“Yes, I do. Everyone on the planet fucks up more than you ever have, and Wilbur turns everything into a good thing for him, and dad is flawless,” Tommy shakes his head, 

“Tommy,” techno tried to stop Tommy, but he just kept going. 

“I’m indeed the only imperfect one in a family of perfect people,” Tommy shouted. 

“Tommy, there is no such thing as perfect, and Wilbur and I fuck up all the time,” techno shook his head. There was no world where he and Wilbur were perfect. 

“I’ve never seen it,” Tommy mumbled, his eyes darting down to his shoes. 

“Because we don’t deal with it well, Wilbur has a full-blown meltdown every time, and I lock my self away until I find a way to fix what I messed up, Tommy, you’re completely normal. In fact, you actually deal with your fuck ups like a normal person would, which makes you better than us,” techno walks over to Tommy, gently tilting Tommy’s head up to look at him. 

“Because I can deal with fucking up?” Tommy’s eyes soften in confusion. 

“Because you can accept that everyone else messes up to and that you not alone in it,” techno explained. Tommy could confess when he messed up, and he could move on, take a deep breath and change his behaviour. “and dad is dad, I think he fucked up by picking work over us half our lives,” techno shook his head. 

“He does important work,” Tommy told techno, defending Phil,  “He does,” techno shook his head. Tommy may be upset at them, but he still protected Phil, and deep down, techno knew that Tommy was still defending his brother to his friends, “but I’m pretty sure even the prime mister remembers to go home to see their kids,” techno tells Tommy, 

“Hes just a little bit forgetful,” Tommy offers. 

“Tommy, you are the kindest, most loyal person I have ever met,” techno moves his hand from Tommy’s chin and pulls his brother into a hug. 

Tommy’s arms almost immediately wrap around Techno.

“What do you mean,” Tommy asks, 

“Because even though Wilbur dad and I forgot your birthday and treated you like shit, you’ll forgive us,” techno says, 

“You’re my family,” Tommy mumbles into techno shirt, 

“Family isn’t exactly a good reason to forgive someone,” techno says into the air, not sure if he means to say that to Tommy or not. 

“Too bad, I forgive you, whether that’s stupid or not, whether you apologize or not, I just don’t want you to be mad at me” Tommy shakes his head, and techno pulls back. 

“I’m not mad at you,” Techno says, 

“I don’t want you to stop feeling bad that you forgot my birthday and go back to only giving me dirty looks,” Tommy confesses. 

“I thought glaring at you and not speaking to you would change you, but I don’t want you to change,” Techno tells Tommy and then takes his hand as they walk back to the house, pulling the sweater over Tommy’s shoulders as they walk. 

* * *

When Phil wakes up again, he sees that Wilbur has moved but is back asleep, and techno and Tommy are gone. So he gets up, trying not to wake Wilbur, who looks as if he had been crying and goes downstairs. 

The back door is unlocked, so Phil knows exactly where techno and Tommy have gone, so Phil starts to make breakfast and calls his work. 

He is not going in today. He thinks of telling the girl who picks up to clear his schedule indefinitely, but he doesnt. He just tells her that he won’t be in for the day and that he won’t be able to be reached on his phone. 

Phil makes scrambled eggs because it’s all he can think to make at the moment. 

He lets his mind wander as he stands by the stove, mindlessly sturing around the eggs as they cook. Soon enough, Tommy and techno walk through the back door. 

“Is Wilbur still asleep?” techno asks. Phil nods, and techno walks out of the kitchen and up to Phil’s bedroom. 

Before Phil speaks to Tommy, who is standing in the middle of the kitchen almost lost, he turns off the stove and moves the eggs off the burner. 

“I’m sorry toms,” Phil speaks when he turns to Tommy, “I messed up,” Phil confesses because all the time in the world wouldn’t help Phil to figure out what to say. 

“I forgive you,” Tommy nods, looking down at his shoes, his eyes trained on a speck of dirt.

“Tommy, look at me,” Phil steps forward, and Tommy’s blue eyes raise to meet Phil, a small bit of water forming around Tommy’s already red-rimmed eyes. So Phil steps forward and pulls Tommy into a hug, “I was so scared for you, and I messed up, I messed up at every step, and you deserve so much better,” Phil told Tommy as he pulled back, 

“You tried your best,” tommy looked away, 

“Tommy, you aren’t like techno and Wilbur who did just fine with hands-off parenting, and maybe even they didn’t do well with it but did well despite it, you needed someone to be there,” Phil explained, 

“I thought you hated me,” Tommy’s lip started to quiver, and it hit Phil the boy in the driveway had been right. Tommy was worried that Phil hated him.

“I could never hate you. There is no world where I could hate you,” Phil whipped away one of Tommy’s tears, and Tommy started to rush his words out. 

“I didn’t mean to make you worry. I just, I wanted to go to the party, and you never came to my games, and I thought I had texted you, but I guess my phone had died, and-” Phil stopped him, 

“You don’t have to explain. What I did is so much worse then what you did,” Phil kissed Tommy’s forehead and pulled him back into a hug. 

Soon they would need to talk as a family, Phil would need to cut back on work, techno would need to come out of his room, be part of the family, Wilbur would need to take a breath and stop playing parent to Tommy, and Tommy would need to stop sneaking out of the house. 

But all of that seemed like a tomorrow problem. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you haven't already leave a kudos? and a comment I like reading them, if you want an epilogue let me know, I have an idea of what I would write but I really liked that as an ending. 
> 
> also protip to writers, Angst is easier to write when you listen so some of those 'villain' playlists, for this one I listed to one called 'maybe it's better to be the villain - a playlist ( part 2 )' by sunjuice. on youtube, it's pretty good, uhm I'm rambling now, thanks for reading!!!!!


End file.
